Nurses’ attitudes towards euthanasia in conflict with professional ethical guidelines
Monteverde, Settimio Terkamo-Moisio, Anja Kvist, Tarja Kangasniemi, Mari Laitila, Teuvo Ryynänen, Olli-Pekka Pietilä, Anna-Maija
Monteverde, Settimio
Terkamo-Moisio, Anja
Kvist, Tarja
Kangasniemi, Mari
Laitila, Teuvo
Ryynänen, Olli-Pekka
Pietilä, Anna-Maija
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Abstract
Background:Despite the significant role of nurses in end-of-life care, their attitudes towards euthanasia are under-represented both in the current literature and the controversial debate that is ongoing in several countries.Research questions:What are the attitudes towards euthanasia among Finnish nurses? Which characteristics are associated with those attitudes?Research design:Cross-sectional web-based survey.Participants and research context:A total of 1003 nurses recruited via the members’ bulletin of the Finnish Nurses Association and social media.Ethical considerations:Ethical approval was obtained from the Committee on Research Ethics of the university to which the authors were affiliated.Findings:The majority (74.3%) of the participants would accept euthanasia as part of Finnish healthcare, and 61.8% considered that Finland would benefit from a law permitting euthanasia. Most of the nurses (89.9%) thought that a person must have the right to decide on his or her own death; 77.4% of them considered it likely that they would themselves make a request for euthanasia in certain situations.Discussion:The value of self-determination and the ability to choose the moment and manner of one’s death are emphasized in the nurses’ attitudes towards euthanasia.Conclusion:A continuous dialogue about euthanasia and nurses’ shared values is crucial due to the conflict between nurses’ attitudes and current ethical guidelines on nursing.
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Article
Date
2017-02-01
Identifier
SAGE-10.1177/0969733016643861
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0969733016643861
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0969733016643861
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10.1177/0969733016643861
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© The Author(s) 2016